BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning What are you going to do with your yarns?

the looms can be made really quickly with some framing boards! They need to be about half an inch thick and cut on the proper angle to make a hexagon. Putting them together with the framing staples makes them secure enough to hold. Then pound in some small finishing nails. The framing boards need to be lightly sanded and maybe coated with a furniture wax. Then a crochet hook of any size would do to move the loops off the nails.

If you are not sure what I am calling finish nails, these have a tiny round head and are usually pounded under the surface of a board and filled with a matching putty stuff so they are invisible. (see? I am trying not to be totally American, and explaining the stuff other countries might call something different!)

I have used what we call bullet heads nails on embroidery hoops - they have a small head and are usually a lot smoother finished than the other kinds of nails with their larger round heads. I have also used artists canvas stretchers to make weaving frames; they are lightweight and cheap and if you get the thick ones, they will put up with quite a bit of tension as well. I have a rectangular stretcher waiting for the nail holes to be drilled, not my favourite job!
I do have a diagram for a hexagon loom, but so far have resisted the temptation/couldn't justify another loom sort of thingy. You have just provided me with a valid reason for making one, lol! I can feel another visit to the hardware store coming on.
Its scary, but after craft stores, the hardware store is now one of my favourite shopping trips - all those gadgets that can be used with spinning wheels, looms etc!
Sue, enjoy your weekend! I hope the weather is nice for it, not too hot and definitely not raining!

[quote=AussieSpinner]
Talking of felting, have any of you found the free felting patterns atBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

If you can't find looms at Spotlight you might just have to ask at the desk. (For Hat looms or plastic knitting looms set).I have just ordered a set of sock looms from the USA from DALooms a friend has bought me Isela's (DALooms owner and looming goddess)' Knitting loom primer "which i am also waiting for immpatiently.I found that Fox collection is too expensive with the KK's as i can get them from the USA from a friend and they don't cost quite so much and if they are out of stock you have a long wait for them to get them for you.Have you ever heard of CrochetAustralia.com.au they have magazines and patterns for crochet and knitting plus they can even supply Tunisian crochet hooks and they are very good. I highly recommend them i have had nothing but prompt friendly service when i have ordered. I haven't looked on their site for a while but they might have looms by now also.My girlfriend and i were looking for what the Americans call cotter pins and found them here known as split pins. You can buy them in lots of sizes and the trick i have been told is to screw the hole put the pin in back to front. Its a bit hard to explain but they look a bit like a metal hair pin.Anyway thats what we have to use in our rakes we are going to make.

good plan on the cotter pins (aka cotter keys to my mechanic daughter) split pins or whatever else they may be called in the world. I hadn't thought of them, but they would work great.

Having English as a base language, we can somewhat communicate, but sometimes have to search for the proper word in another English speaking country. Wonder how that translates in French or German??? or some other world languages? Oh well! maybe they can get the drift of what we are going after.

Drilling tiny holes is the cherry pits too! I don't care to spend hours on end doing those either. (Just finished placing cup hooks for my teacup collection, Now to do the coffee mugs?)

With all of us communicating our ideas and where to get some of the supplies we need, we should all come out winners.

Ordinarily I would hand out "blue" ribbons for great ideas. That is top award here in the USA. I think for you it would be a "red" ribbon?

I know the German for I spin is ich spinne and its supposed to mean your a little crazy in direct translation lol.English is a fascinating language when you consider its derived from so many different languages and dialects. I am reading some Nathaniel Hawthorne at the moment and am so enjoying the 1860's English. I read a couple of paragraphs to my son and then had to translate what he mean't into todays english,I can't print what he said in reply to me though. LOL!

Yes, I have been reading The Scarlett Letter with my granddaughter. Have to translate it into modern English for her. And her answer is also unprintable! She thinks in terms of some TeenyBopper Super Model on TV, which shows I cannot even bear to stay in the same room!!

Sometimes I regret that we have that Satellite system for TV.

jaquiw, I have finally seen the knitting looms at Spotlight - they look exactly like my KK looms, but being my local Spotlight, there was no price to be found, grrrr! I used cotter/split pins on my rake, but bullet head nails on my weaving looms - much cheaper.
I'm still trying to knit a cardigan/jacket (depends on how heavy it comes out, lol!) for my husband, but its sooooooo cold here at the mmoment, and dry too! We go into increased water rationing in a few days. Hope its nice and wet where you are! Its strange wishing for a really wet winter, but we need it badly here in Australia.

Oh, I am so sorry for you all having to do water rationing in the winter time!! We usually only get it in the summer.

I pray for the wet to get you also!

We docked lambs yesterday. Sheep and pens were really wet. We all came in for lunch and changed clothes, we were so muddy. We tallied right at 100% lamb crop so far this year. A few ewes still to lamb. We had about an inch of rain night before last. Made me get out of bed and slam down windows! My #1 daughter had left her truck window down, so she went out to close it. Robe and PJs were soaked when she came back in. Umberella? here somewhere!! May be dry rotted if we can find the thing.

I have finally seen the KK-type looms at Spotlight, but no price tag, which is about par for the course, that store is soooo hopeless!
I'm still knitting at the moment, in between blending my dog hair/mohair/Romney mix. I've had to do some frogging, but I'm just about finished the back of the jacket - the fronts are already done, so I'm on the home stretch! It has dropped shoulders that are knitted from the shoulders to the wrist so that shouldn't take too long, then the collar, and maybe adjust the length slightly (Wilf is very tall with long arms and body). This is the first garment I have ever knitted. I think if I had realised how much spinning etc it would take, I might not have started it but fools rush in, etc, LoL!
It will certainly be very warm, pure Corriedale, and as we are having the coldest winter on record here in Adelaide, it will be worn. So far its taken over 3 Kgs of raw fleece, but I will have yarn left over as its multicoloured. I started it Easter 2006.